''L'Animal'' is a 1977 French

action comedy film The action comedy is a film genre that applies to action films where humor plays a much more central role. While early films feature stuntwork and humor, academic Cynthia King wrote that the genre only came into its own as a mainstay of the Americ ...

directed by

Claude Zidi Claude Zidi (born 25 July 1934) is a French film director and screenwriter noted for his mainstream burlesque comedies. Born in Paris, he started as a cameraman and then a cinematographer, and he made his directorial and screenwriting debut in 1 ...

and starring

Jean-Paul Belmondo Jean-Paul Charles Belmondo (; 9 April 19336 September 2021) was a French actor. Initially associated with the New Wave of the 1960s, he was a major French film star for several decades from the 1960s onward, frequently portraying police officer ...

and

Raquel Welch Jo Raquel Welch (; September 5, 1940 – February 15, 2023) was an American actress. Welch first gained attention for her role in ''Fantastic Voyage'' (1966), after which she signed a long-term contract with 20th Century Fox. They lent her con ...

. It was distributed in the United States by Analysis Film Releasing Corp under the title ''Stuntwoman''. The film initially focuses on two professional

stunt performers A stunt performer, often called a stuntman or stuntwoman and occasionally stuntperson or stunt-person, is a trained professional who performs stunt, daring acts, often as a career. Stunt performers usually appear in films or on television, as op ...

, who are engaged to each other. They get injured in a car stunt on their wedding day, and then break-up their relationship and their professional partnership. After a period of

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is the proportion of people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work du ...

, the man of the couple is offered a high-salary job. He soon wants to convince his former fiancée to rejoin their partnership. He finds out that she is currently engaged to a

nobleman Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. T ...

, and desperately tries to regain her affection before her impending wedding day.

Plot

Mike Gauché (

) is a professional film stuntman who works with his fiancée Jane Gardner (

). However minutes before their long planned marriage they are called to perform a car stunt for a movie but it goes wrong, as a brake problem causes their car to fall and they end up in a hospital with bruises and broken legs. Exasperated by the behavior of her fiancé, Jane decides to leave. After his recovery Mike is no longer able to find work in the movie business and is forced to simulate mental retardation and to invent a family to receive Social Security benefits. One day his stuntman friend Santos asks him to replace him from time to time at his job which involves dressing up as a gorilla for advertising pasta at a supermarket. Mike's luck begins to improve as he gets offered a high salary to do the stunts of an

effeminate Effeminacy or male femininity is the embodiment of feminine traits in boys or men, particularly those considered untypical of men or masculinity. These traits include roles, stereotypes, behaviors, and appearances that are socially associated wi ...

movie star Bruno Ferrari (

) whom he proves to be a dead ringer to. Ferrari, while filming an action movie, suffers from vertigo and finds himself unable to perform dangerous sequences. Mike does not hesitate to get rid of his new stunt partner in order to replace her with Jane, who is enamored with the Count of Saint-Prix (

Raymond Gérôme Raymond Gérôme (17 May 1920 — 3 February 2002) was a Belgian-born, French stage and screen actor. Gérôme was born as Raymond Joseph Léon De Backer in Koekelberg. He made his first stage appearance in 1946, in a stage production of ''Jeann ...

). Having heard the news Mike goes to the Count while impersonating a server in order to propose the offer to Jane. When he hears that the Count has asked to marry Jane he manically sabotages the dinner and makes Jane promise to do the film. Desperate to regain Jane, Mike impersonates Ferrari who turns out to be gay, to seduce her. However the young woman is not fooled. Mike must perform a dangerous stunt on the wing of an airplane to an audience of journalists who think they are seeing Ferrari, where his life is saved from the accident by Jane, who is to marry the Count very soon. Meanwhile, the press discovers that Ferrari is not doing his own stunts. While the wedding ceremony takes place at the castle of the Count, Mike arrives disguised as a gorilla, scaring guests with animals from the property, and takes Jane, who refuses to marry Count of Saint-Prix, preferring to live her life with Mike.

Cast

as Mike Gaucher / Bruno Ferrari *

as Jane *

Charles Gérard Charles Gérard (born Gérard Adjémian, 1 December 1922 – 19 September 2019)Charles Gérard

< ...

as Hyacinthe *

Julien Guiomar Julien Guiomar (3 May 1928 in Morlaix, Finistère, Brittany – 22 November 2010 in Agen, Lot-et-Garonne, Aquitaine), was a French film actor. The actor had retired to the Dordogne at Monpazier. The person who incarnated Colonel Vincent in " ...

as Fechner *

Aldo Maccione Aldo Maccione (born 27 November 1935) is an Italian film actor and singer who is a member of the Italian comedy rock band Brutos. He has appeared in more than 50 films since 1964. He was born in Turin, Italy. Filmography * '' La Grande maffia ...

as Sergio Campanese *

Dany Saval Dany Saval (born Danielle Nadine Suzanne Savalle; 5 January 1942) is a French former actress. Her career flourished during the 1950s and 1960s. Best known in America as one of a trio of airline stewardesses being shuffled around by Tony Curtis ...

as Doris *

as Count of Saint-Prix *

Henri Génès Henri Génès (2 July 1919 – 22 August 2005) was a French singer and actor who appeared in such films as ''The Sucker'', ''La Grande Vadrouille'', '' The Brain'', ''The Counterfeit Constable'', and '' The Little Bather''. He was born in Tarbes ...

: as Camille, café owner *

Claude Chabrol Claude Henri Jean Chabrol (; 24 June 1930 – 12 September 2010) was a French film director and a member of the French New Wave (''nouvelle vague'') group of filmmakers who first came to prominence at the end of the 1950s. Like his colleagues an ...

as The Director * Mario David as Santos *

Didier Flamand Didier Flamand (born 12 March 1947) is a French actor and theatre director. He has appeared in more than 200 films and television shows since 1973. He starred in Raúl Ruiz's 1978 film '' The Suspended Vocation''. Theater Filmography Actor ...

as The Cousin *

Josiane Balasko Josiane Balasko (born Josiane Balašković; 15 April 1950) is a French actress, writer, and director. She has been nominated seven times for César Awards, and won twice. Career One of Balasko's most recognized roles among English speakers is ...

as Supermarket Girl *

Jacques Alric Jacques or Jacq are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are over one hundred identified noble families related t ...

Henri Attal Henri Attal (1936–2003) was a French actor. Selected filmography External links Fragments d'un dictionnaire amoureux 1936 births 2003 deaths Male actors from Paris French male film actors French male television actors {{F ...

as an assistant *

Jane Birkin Jane Mallory Birkin ( ; 14 December 1946 – 16 July 2023) was a British and French actress, singer, and designer. She had a prolific career as an actress, mostly in French cinema. A native of London, Birkin began her career as an actress, ...

as The Female Star (cameo appearance) *

Johnny Hallyday Jean-Philippe Léo Smet (; 15 June 1943 – 5 December 2017), better known by his stage name Johnny Hallyday, was a French rock and roll and Pop music, pop singer and actor, credited with having brought rock and roll to France. During a career ...

as The Male Star (cameo appearance) * Maurice Auzel *

Maurice Bénichou Maurice Bénichou (23 January 1943 in Tlemcen, French Algeria – 14 June 2019) was a French actor. His best known roles include three collaborations with director Michael Haneke ('' Code inconnu'', '' Le Temps du Loup'', and '' Caché''), and ...

* Edouard Bergara *

Paul Bisciglia Paul Antoine Alphonse Bisciglia (30 July 1928 – 18 April 2010) was a French film actor. Career Throughout his acting career, Bisciglia appeared in more than one hundred feature films. He made his debut in the 1950 film ''Trois télégram ...

Richard Bohringer Richard Bohringer () is a French actor, singer, writer, and film director. He is the father of actresses Romane Bohringer and . Early life Bohringer was born in Moulins, Allier, France, to a French mother, Huguette Foucault and a German fathe ...

Anne-Marie Coffinet Anne-Marie Rose Nicholson (born 7 April 1991) is an English singer and songwriter. She has attained various charting singles on the UK Singles Chart, including Clean Bandit's " Rockabye", which peaked at number one, as well as "Alarm", "Ciao ...

* Raphaële Devins * Isabelle Duby *

Martine Ferrière Martine is a feminine given name and a surname. Given name * Martine Aubry (born 1950), French politician * Martine Audet (born 1961), Canadian poet * Martine Aurillac (born 1939), French politician * Martine Baay-Timmerman (born 1958), Dutch ...

Jean-Jacques Jean-Jacques is a French name, equivalent to "John James" in English. Since the second half of 18th century, Jean Jacques Rousseau was widely known as Jean Jacques. Notable people bearing this name include: Given name * Jean-Jacques Annaud (born 19 ...

* Jean-Jacques Moreau *

Gilles Kohler Gilles Kohler is a French actor, born November 18, 1948 Former Model, Gilles Kohler started out in 1974 as the blonde angel Jean in Marcel Carné's ''La Merveilleuse visite''. Two years later he plays Jean-Pierre, a lover between two women ( Claud ...

Yves Mourousi Yves Mourousi (20 July 1942 – 7 April 1998) was a French television and radio news presenter and journalist. He was the TF1 midday news anchor between 1975 and 1988. Information During the 1980s, Mourousi was a member of the Association de ...

Xavier Saint-Macary Xavier Saint-Macary (June 7, 1948 – March 13, 1988) was a French actor, brother of Hubert Saint-Macary. Saint-Macary played in ''La Nuit américaine'' (1973) directed by François Truffaut and '' Le Château perdu'' (1973). American audienc ...

* Agathe Vannier

Production

Most of the stunts in the film were done by Belmondo himself. This caused him multiple injuries; a dislocated ankle after the scene on the steps of Sacré-Cœur, dislocation and a penetrating wound after the scene in which he is tumbling down the stairs, a chewed up ear after the fight scene with a tiger. Because the insurance companies refused to insure aerial stunts they had to be filmed last. Everything went off without incident, and the actor was able to realize his childhood dream of personally standing on the wing of a flying airplane, a

Fieseler Fi 156 The Fieseler Fi 156 ''Storch'' (, "stork") is a liaison aircraft designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Fieseler. Its nickname of '' Storch'' was derived from the lengthy legs of its main landing gear, which gave the aircraft ...

Box office

The film sold over 3 million tickets in France. It grossed a total of $7,196,268 million at the worldwide box office.

References

External links

*
''Animal''
at Le Film Guide {{DEFAULTSORT:Animal 1977 films 1977 action comedy films 1977 LGBTQ-related films 1970s French films French action comedy films 1970s French-language films Films about stunt performers Films about filmmaking Films directed by Claude Zidi Films with screenplays by Michel Audiard Films scored by Vladimir Cosma Gay-related films Films about weddings French LGBTQ-related films LGBTQ-related comedy films